(Para-)Military Violence, War Crimes in Post-Soviet Conflicts and Narratives of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Organisers:
Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Pilecki Institute, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, the Lviv Center for Urban History and the University of New Europe (UNE) organize a joint international workshop.

About the international Workshop

The first part of the workshop at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History will take place within the research framework KonKoop (Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe: The Consequences of the Reconfiguration of Political, Economic, and Social Spaces since the End of the Cold War) hosted by ZOIS. It will primarily focus on the topic of (para-)military violence over a period of time starting with the collapse of the USSR till present. The Mutiny of the Wagner group in summer 2023 has highlighted the significance of armed militias for understanding conflict, violence and war in the post-Soviet space. The dissolution of the USSR was preceded by the disintegration of the Soviet Army and the rise of armed groups, local strongmen and warlords in parts of the Caucasus, in Central Asia and in Moldova. From the 1990s onwards irregular formations of armed men played a significant role in various conflicts from Chechnya to the Donbas. These men, as well as the regular armed units of Russia used violence and committed war crimes in the conflicts following the dissolution of the USSR.

The workshop will assemble both those who have contributed to the ongoing discussion on methodological approaches in the study of violent groups, including ethical questions, as well as researchers who have already studied sources and collected data in the field. Presentations will include work on the conflicts of the late USSR and the 1990s as well as more recent studies about the Russian war against Ukraine (starting in 2014). The goal of the workshop is to gain a better understanding of the origins, the actors as well as the forms and consequences of irregular military violence from perestroika to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The workshop language is English. In cooperation with the University of New Europe network a publication of some of the contributions is planned with transcript in the “New Europes” book series.

Programm

May 21, 2024
Pilecki Institute
Pariser Platz 4A, 10117 Berlin

18:00: Collecting Testimonies from Russia’s War Against Ukraine: Why and How to Do it. Perspectives, Documentary Projects, and Archival Collections from Berlin, Warsaw, Lviv & Jerusalem

May 22, 2024
The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF) Potsdam
Am Neuen Markt 9d, 14467 Potsdam

10:00: Beginning of the Workshop. Welcome at ZZF
Panel 1: Conflict Dynamics Revisited: State and Non-State Actors
Chair: Nina Janz (NIOD)

10:15-11:30
Jan Claas Behrends (ZZF/ Viadrina): Soviet/Russian Illegitimate Military Violence after 1945. Several Ideal Types.
Alyona Bidenko (ZZF): Unmasking Conflict Realities: An Insight into Russian Soldiers’ Experiences in Ukraine.

11:30-11:40 Coffee Break

11:40-13:00
Thomas da Silva (CERCEC): Paramilitarization in Post-Soviet Russia: the Union of Donbass Volunteers in the War in Ukraine (2014 - 2024).
David Matsaberidze (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University): The Mkhedrioni (Riders) as a Non-State Actor in Post-Soviet Georgia: From Civil War to State Consolidation (1991-1995).

Panel 2: Reimagining Narratives: Legal Dimensions and Media’s Influence on Post-Soviet Conflicts
Chair: Sophie Lambroschini (Centre Marc Bloch)

14:00-16:00
Yuliya Krylova-Grek (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy): War and Words: from Hate Speech to Incitements to Crimes.
Miglė Bareikytė (European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) and Mykola Makhortykh (Institute of Communication and Media Science): War from within: Witnessing Russia’s War against Ukraine through Online Platforms.
Marcin Jędrysiak (Centre of Eastern Europe Studies in Warsaw, University of Lower Silesia DSW): Status of the Paramilitary Group Fighters in the International Law – How To Deal with the Problem of a “Being under a Command Responsible to a State Party”?

16:00-16:10 Coffee Break

Panel 3: New Avenues in Conflict Research Methodology
Chair: Kerstin Bischl (ZOiS)

16:10-18:10
Natalia Otrishchenko (Lviv Centre for Urban History): New Avenues of Methodology and Research. Selected Testimonies from the First Wave of Interviewing for the “24.02.22, 5 am: Testimonies from the War” Project.
Mateusz Fałkowski (Pilecki Institute): A Case Study Approach as an Empirical Window into Understanding Russian Crimes: Sexual Violence by the Russian Occupying Forces against Ukrainian Women.
Tetiana Tipakova: A Testimony to Russian Mass Violence.

May 23, 2024
The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam
Am Neuen Markt 9d, 14467 Potsdam

Panel 4: Analyzing the Legacy: Perspectives on Historical Events in Post-Soviet Spaces
Chair: Evgen Zinger (ZZF)

10:00-11:20
Nikolaus von Twickel (Zentrum Liberale Moderne): Paramilitary Groups in Russian-controlled Donbas, 2014-2022.
Roman Khimich: Facing Uncertainty: Voluntary Formations of Local Communities in the Ukrainian-Russian War (2014-24).

11:20-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:00
Semion Goldin (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Russian Army and Anti-Jewish Violence during WWI: Some Lessons for Ukraine.
Glen Segell (University of Cambridge, University of the Free State): Different Framings of Historical Events and Processes: The Balkan and the Chechen Wars in the 1990s and 9/11.

13:00 End of Workshop

https://konkoop.de